Rey de Reyes Saturday (but probably without Fenix), CMLL announcements, The Crash

CMLL

Tonight’s CMLL show is hyped around an Angel de Oro versus Mephisto match, which might be the least interesting part of the show. Mistico & Templario versus Averno & Volador headline, a relevos increibles match the week before the relevos incredible tournament. That could be good. The Casas Famly versus Panther Family past meetings have been good and they wrestle here again. The women are in the segunda and perhaps we’ll find a destination. The opener reunites the Puebla trio (Pegasso, Stigma and Arkalis) against Electrico, Halcon Suriano Jr., and Panterita Jr., the guy who seems like he’d be much more exciting if he was in a promotion that used him more.

The show is the usual 100 pesos TicketMaster Live show and matches from the show will go up on YouTube in about two weeks as normal.

CMLL announced a lot of Informa. Next week’s Torneo Increíble de Parejas will be a one night tournament with eight teams:

• Místico & Averno
• Volador Jr. & Mephisto
• Negro Casas & Blue Panther
• Soberano Jr. & Templario
• Titán & Cavernario
• Atlantis Jr. & Stuka Jr.
• Hechicero & El Sagrado
• Último Guerrero & Euforia

I have some real questions about some of these teams: who’s the tecnico in Hechicero/Sagrado? Ultimo Guerrero & Euforia? Is Atlantis Jr. a rudo now? (Gran Guerrero would like him to make up his mind.) Putting that aside, cutting the size of this tournament in half makes for a much more star-laden field than usual. I’d be surprised if Sagrado won a tournament, though everyone else has a shot and might be interesting in the process. You shouldn’t expect too much out of CMLL tournament shows, but this one looks better than most.

CMLL also announced Homenaje a Dos Leyendas will take place March 18th, with Ringo Mendoza the wrestler honored alongside Salvador Lutteroth. Mendoza was a top and important star of the 70s and 80s (who hung around much longer than that), and absolutely is deserving of being honored in an event like this. His announcement is a surprise only in you’d be forgiven for thinking they already got to him.

There’s no obvious Homenaje a Dos Leyendas main event coming out of that pairs tournament; it feels too soon to do Atlantis/Stuka now after two weeks of nothing going on. Maybe there will be a women’s apuesta match and it’ll be more clear tonight, but the current CMLL crowd sizes suggest it’s more likely to be headlined by a title match or some other non-hair/mask encounter.

CMLL finished as the second-worst promotion in the WON’s fan vote awards. It was a far, far distant second to WWE. The WON is the only general wrestling award including readership who are going to even think about CMLL, but even then few of the audience actually watched it this year (or past years.) Everyone heard disappointing things, but I think the business going down is as big a factor as any bad match. The biggest factor is CMLL used to exist a show people would watch commonly on Friday nights and enjoy the matches sometimes, and now it’s something that doesn’t meaningful exist in that way. There are still free shows gong up on YouTube every Sunday afternoon, but there aren’t people gathering around to watch them, and CMLL only getting attention for parting ways with wrestlers surely didn’t help. CMLL’s internal viewpoint is they (and their loyal fans) are the only ones who truly understand what good wrestling is; they may bristle at getting this attention but it’s not going to change them in the least.

AAA

Fenix is unlikely to wrestle on Saturday’s Rey de Reyes. Today’s WON says he’s expected out at least a month. Returning in March remains great news given how ugly his arm injury looked when it happened. It also suggests AAA’s known Fenix was unlikely to wrestle on Rey de Reyes for a long time and has chosen not to say anything. I’d guess they won’t actually announce changes until they can run an angle on the show Saturday, but don’t buy the show if you’re doing just to see the advertised matches.

Most, though not all, promotions would let their fans know if one of the biggest wrestlers announced for a show would not be appearing. AAA is not one of those promotions, as we all well know by this point. There’s a certain benefit in being so chronically goofy, fewer people will be angry with AAA than if another group had pulled this. (Don’t get me wrong, people are still going to be angry.) AAA’s weirdness cushions the blow on this end, but it’s also the reason they don’t get as much respect or attention as they feel. Most keep them at an arm’s distance for good reason.

Rey de Reyes airs on FITE for 20 USD and starts at 8 pm CT on Saturday; that’s about the time AAA usually ends on Space. (That Space broadcast this week starts at 9:30 pm; Mexico viewers will get just the second half of the show live.) AAA big shows are usually interesting and often good, and I think this show should be the same even with whatever’s going on with Fenix. I wrote a longer preview for Voices of Wrestling, but it is generally the usual AAA product for good and bad. Taya seems certain to be the mystery person and I think there’s a good shot of Rush being the mystery guy in the Rey de Reyes match.

Beyond the false advertising bit, AAA not wanting to announce Fenix seems like it’s holding them up for advertising all their March plans. Hope it’s worth it to them, but that likely means a lot of announcements next week.

TripleMania Mexico City tickets went on sale today. (SuperBoletos links don’t always work, but you can also find it from their main page.) It seems way early to me to buy tickets for October 15th but they’re sure ready to take your money. Tickets are a record high of 8030 Mexican Pesos (395 USD), though that’s really just for a small section of pesos. More notable is the lowest price is now 440 MXN (22 USD); everything is more expensive this year around. AAA is expecting to have no problem with demand this year, be it from pandemic or disinterest. That potential giant gate does make it slightly more likely someone besides Villano IV will lose their mask; AAA could offer a big payday to anyone in that field, maybe the most ever if they choose.

If there’s one thing constant about Tijuana’s The Crash, it’s they can’t go long before without some drama in their inter-promotional alliances. The Crash is built on having as many big names as possible, which leads them to work with big promotions (mostly AAA), but also working with big promotions is forever full of drama and breakup. So it is again, as The Crash and AAA have split ways for the second or maybe the third time. AAA made an announcement, The Crash has said nothing This one was inevitable not just in the way that all The Crash breakup are inevitable, but specifically because Konnan was personally trying to work with both them and their Tijuana rival EMW. It would’ve taken a work of magic that even Konnan can’t produce to keep all sides happy, and maybe that’s the reason the news came out of his personal Twitter account rather than AAA themselves. EMW seems to be helping with the Tijuana TripleMania show, so AAA was going to side with them if something come up. Facebook page Zona Ruda notes Konnan & Dorian Roldan were spotted meeting with the Tijuana commission and EMW on Thursday about the Tijuana show and speculates something with that alliance caused this announcement a day later. They also speculate Crash using Santo & Octagon may have irked AAA; it’s a logical guess, given both have sued AAA. The exact details are probably not important, since they’ll be forgotten whenever AAA & The Crash decide the start working together again between now and 2024.

Various AAA wrestlers are current The Crash champions, which would be important if the titles meant a lot. Of bigger concern are wrestlers who are caught in the middle; Komander, Jack Cartwheel, Dinamico, and Flamita are booked for Saturday’s today’s The Crash show and future AAA TV tapings, and may feel pressure to not work both. Similarly, Bestia 666, Mecha Wolf, Rey Horus, and Damian 666 were working for both Crash & EMW and that may no longer be possible.

Black Taurus will not be at Rey de Reyes because he’s wrestling JONAH on Impact’s PPV the same night. Taurus willy likely have another good performance, lose, and then get back to being just a face in the mix. He (and Laredo) are firmly stuck in the tier of wrestlers who exist in Impact just to get other people over.

Deonna Purrazzo is also holding an open challenge for her ROH and AAA titles on the Impact PPV. No opponent has been named. Purrazzo did a similar bit a couple of weeks back where she defended the ROH title, so maybe this time is the AAA title. Faby Apache is noticeably absent from the Rey de Reyes lineup, so maybe it’ll be her, but that’s just a guess. I think there’s even a chance of a shock title change; it certainly feels like AAA’s lost interest in Deonna as champion.

Hijo del Vikingo won the WON Mexico MVP. No one is really clear what that award is supposed to mean, or if it means anything at all. It is essentially “who’s the most famous Mexican wrestler to this audience” of the year. Vikingo was the Tapatia MVP winner too, but I’ve not convinced this means a lot at this point.

Other News

Robles Promotions has done a lot of press leading up to their show tonight in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera. Their past shows have not drawn well and there’s no reason to believe this will be any different, but they’re trying to conduct themselves like a major league promotion in hopes that implied credibility will draw people in. In an interview with Record, exotico Bugambila pushed the idea of joining Scorpio & Shocker’s reborn Guapos unit. The interview seems to confuse ex-Guapo (and deceased) Bestia Salvaje with (not deceased) Bestia del Ring, an unfortunate mistake. Guapito has been spotted promoting this show with the Robles promotions; he hasn’t wrestled in CMLL since November and may have moved on. Texano is part of a group of wrestlers trying to body slam ex-NBA player Beast Mode for a big cash prize; he’s joking he’ll use the money for a trip to Dubai when he pulls it off.  La Mascara claims he was going to retire before Robles Promotiones came along.

The biggest news in the Spanish-speaking wrestling space this week is WWE letting go of Carlos Cabrera. He’d been one of the most prominent Spanish voices for the promotion for 30 years. It appears to be WWE moving out an old announcer due to age, though I don’t think they can legally admit it. Cabrera is 62, which doesn’t seem as old the closer I get to it. Cabrera and Hugo Savinovich were the voices of WWE in Spanish in the 90s and 00s, as a definitive broadcast team for Spanish-speaking fans as Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross was during that time. It was no surprise Savinovich’s Lucha Libre Online was the first to have the news, and I’m as sure he’ll be pitching AAA and other places on reuniting the duo. (They’ve already announced they’ll be working together at LLO.) I like the current AAA setup with Hugo and Jose Manuel Guillen, but reuniting the famed WWE pair in AAA has to be tempting. (The addition of the Showcenter events may also provide tapings to cycle people in and out a bit.) I don’t watch AEW in Spanish, but I feel like I’m frequently told they could use improvement in that area. Cabrera might be a fit there, depending on the budget.

Mascara Dorada made a surprise appearance on Thursday night at NJPW (Strong)’s Rivals show in Los Angeles, running of TJP. A day earlier, NJPW announced Dorada would be returning to the promotion on their 03/20 show in Tampa, so pencil in a TJP/Dorada cruiserweight classic there. It is hard to miss NJPW, even just the US branch, bringing back in Mascara Dorada when they haven’t used a desperate to return Dragon Lee in a couple of years. Dorada’s also the first “CMLL” wrestler to participate in NJPW since the pandemic, though I’m using scare quotes because this is likely a direct NJPW/Dorada deal without CMLL being materially involved. Rey Horus worked NJPW Strong shows during their empty arena era and Misterioso has become a local regular; he challenged Dorada on Twitter.

I put this week’s IWRG lineup in the database but never posted it here:

IWRG (SUN) 02/20/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Sol & Spider Fly vs Águila Oriental & Súper Cometa
2) Artemiz & Bengalee vs Lolita & Satania
3) Hell Boy, Noisy Boy, Relámpago vs Apolo Estrada Jr., Billy Jones, Chris Stone Jr.
4) Asterboy vs Tonalli
5) Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura vs Alpha Wolf & Dragón Bane
6) Travis Banks vs Cerebro Negro, Zumbi, Dr. Cerebro, Veneno, Hip Hop Man, Shocko, Action Jackson [Copa Internacional]

The main event is built around an international tournament, likely to set up a title match with Banks. Asterboy/Tonalli has a chance to be pretty good.

Ring of Honor held a video session on Wednesday, soliciting wrestler ideas for their Supercard of Honor. There were probably over a hundred names thrown out in an hour, and most of them will not be on the show. One potentially lucha libre relevant bit is ROH said they were unlikely to use international talent on that show. My presumption is we’ll be seeing a lot less Mexico-based talent in ROH going forward and that seems to fit. Bandido is scheduled for Supercard of Honor for the ROH title unification match and I’m sure he’ll be there, but I would only bet on seeing him there as long as he remains champion.

Charrito de Oro passed away on Wednesday. He was a luchador and a trainer, perhaps more known for people he’s related to (brother of Maria del Angel, brother-in-law of Bestia Salvaje) and taught (Mr. Niebla, Fuego, Shockercito, and Sangre Azteca, who announced the death on Facebook). Box y Lucha mentions he’d been in poor health for a while. An earlier post mentions Charrito de Oro helped Mr. Niebla come up with la Nieblina. The evaluators at Mr. Niebla’s licensing exam wanted each trainee to demonstrate their own unique hold, so Oro helped Niebla put together his knot hold that has been seen elsewhere.

San Luis Potosi luchador Gran Sebastian/Sexy Leonicto/Super Maquinita (Sebastián Plumajero, 61) passed away on Thursday. Sebastian was an early minis wrestler, a contemporary of names like Gran Nikolai and Pequeno Goliath and traveled to Japan. He wrestled in Pavillon Azteca in the 80s when it was the third strongest promotion in Mexico City and appeared in movies. He was a main character in the “El Rayo, Vida de Lucha” 2014 Mexicanal series on lucha libre in the San Luis Potosi area as someone who helped with running the shows. The friendship between Sebastian and Rayo de Plata was one of the key points of the series. I recall liking him on the show and it’s sad to hear he’s passed away.

Japan announced they’re easing entry restrictions for fully vaccinated business travelers, including cutting quarantine down to three days. There are still plenty of barriers for a FantasticaMania any time soon, but it’s a positive step towards that happening somewhere down the road.

Big Lucha posted another empty arena show, which appears to be the first in an ongoing series. These aren’t getting many views, though they do seem to have plenty of sponsors. They have a live event this Sunday with Emperador Azteca & Flamita versus Dragon Lee & Drasticio versus Bandido & Ciclon Ramirez Jr. and Arez versus Yutani

Mas Lucha staple Welcome to Mi Barrio returns on March 5th. They’ve been off since just before Christmas.

DTU says they’re running March 15th in Arena Aficion.

Cibernetico and Monterry lucha libre personality Roberto Figueroa are working a feud on Facebook, which probably has to do with KAOZ’s return show.

Imposible/Fuerza Guerrera NG claimed he didn’t rent that name from Fuerza Guerrera. He says he bought it outright, and so should have legal right to trademark if he so chooses. There is no way to get to the bottom of this situation without seeing the legal agreement (and also perhaps being a lawyer.) Public sentiment usually defends the older wrestler in these name cases, and Imposible seems to have decided he’ll be returning to that name.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.